A wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary study of the UK’s east coast marine environment, The East Coast Regional Environmental Characterisation (EC REC), has been published.

A consortium of scientists, led by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas), used state-of-the-art techniques deployed from the research vessel, the Cefas Endeavour. The seabed was comprehensively mapped, revealing distinct areas in terms of their physical properties and associated biological communities.

Combining the resulting evidence with existing data, the EC REC researchers produced a series of high-quality, interpretive maps of the seabed off East Anglia.

Researchers encountered a number of nationally rare or scarce species in the area surveyed, for instance the rare mantis shrimp (Rissoides desmaresti). Discovery of this particular species in the area represents a new scientific record, extending the known range of this shrimp to the east coast of England from what was previously thought to be a relatively confined area on the south and Welsh coasts of the UK.

Understanding of the historical importance of the area was also enhanced through the EC REC study. Regional evidence included:
• internationally important Palaeolithic artefacts, including hand axes, cores and flakes
• peat and wood fragments indicating Mesolithic land surfaces
• wrecks dating from the early 19th century, including the SS Seagull and Xanthe (a sail-assisted steam paddle vessel and steam screw vessel, respectively)
• remains of WWII aircraft.

EC REC researchers also characterised environmentally important features such as sub-tidal reefs, gravel deposits, bedrock outcrops thought to be transported by glaciers, and sandbanks.

Dr Siân Limpenny, EC REC Project Manager, said: “There is increasing demand on marine space and resources, due to the expansion of some maritime industries and also because of newer developments such as wind farms off the east coast.


“The east coast region is also likely to be the focus for the increasing demand for marine aggregates in the future, to support large-scale infrastructure projects and coastal defence programmes.”

She continued: “That’s why these maps are so helpful. They underpin statutory Marine Plans, required under the Marine and Coastal Access Act, which help decision-makers to ensure the sustainable management of offshore resources now and into the future. For instance, sensitive habitats might be safeguarded, whilst other areas may be identified as commercially important fishing grounds or deemed to be ideal for marine construction or for energy supply.


“A wide range of commercial operators and developers, who need to plan their own specific activities, could also find the maps essential tools to support their investment decisions.”

Residents of Beccles and surrounding areas do not need to travel 100 miles to experience the delights of one of the very best of Handel's Oratorios, because rehearsals are well underway for it's performance at Beccles Choral Society's Summer Picnic Concert at St Michael's Church on Saturday 28th May, beginning at 6.30 pm. Bring-your-own-picnic, 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm.

First performed in 1747, it tells the true story of Judea being ruled by the Seluecid Empire from Syria in the period 170-160 BC and avowing to destroy the Jewish religion. Judas Maccabaeus succeeds his father as leader of the Jewish reaction to the Selluecids, leading to ultimate victory. It includes a number of well-known items such as 'Sound an alarm' and 'See, the conquering hero comes', and a number of equally delightful but possibly less well-known pieces.

The choir will be accompanied by a full orchestra, including well-loved local performers Ray Simmonds on Trumpet and Ian Baeurs on Bassoon, and four London based soloists including the welcome return of the outstanding Lowestoft-born Tenor, Nick Allen. Also performing will be a girls' choir from Saint Felix's School in Southwold, all directed by Beccles Choral Society's Conductor, Philip Sims.

Tickets priced £10, (school children free!) are now available from Willows and Beccles Stationery Shop, any member of the Society or by post through phoning 01508 528560.

Further details on www.beccleschoralsociety.co.uk.

A few months ago you read it on this Blog, a warning to all parents, but I am correct in saying it is still still going on.


Many parents are insuring their sons or daughters in their name on car insurances and THEN ADDING their offsprings as a SECOND DRIVER.

This is illegal and classified as fraud, this is a way of short term money saving but the risks outweigh the benefits.

There are serious problems if any is caught fronting and insurances will be invalidated

Figures show one out of every 20 drivers drive without insurance, this adds £30 a year to every honest drivers premium

Uninsured drivers now face having their car clamped in their driveway, seized or destroyed when new regulations come in to force in June

This also apply to motorists who may simply have forgotten.

The new system  Continuous Insurance Enforcement will make it illegal to keep a uninsured car without a SORN notification.......while at the present time it is ONLY an OFFENCE to drive UNINSURED.

CUT THE COST
It is in the interest of your children to be the MAIN DRIVER from day one (yes it may be costly) but they must build up a insurance history.

PASS PLUS a course taken after someone has passed their basic L test MAY give a 35% discount but you are paying for the course.

YES WE MUST GET NEW DRIVERS on Motorways and extra life skills behind the wheel, but it is not just a insurance discount course.

Perhaps paying premiums monthly could help, but again this may increase by 10 to 25%

Premiums can be reduced by opting for a higher excess...but be careful.

WATCH third party cover it may not be the cheapest as now some comprehensive policies can often be affordable.

Third party could be more expensive as the insurance company might assume you don't care about the car and more likely be a accident risk!

A number of insurers are bringing in black box technology to monitor young drivers - a few miles a month!

But personally not sure on this one yet whether it works or not. What are your views? Watch this space over next few weeks we will give it a try...

Princess Mary, the Princess Royal (1897-1965) was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary and the sister of Princes Edward and Albert, later Edward VIII and George VI (of King's Speech fame). Her marriage to Viscount Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood, was probably the biggest British newsreel story of the decade. For this film Topical Budget employed fifteen cameramen along the route, paying in excess of £75,000 in today's money for the best camera positions.

For more about Topical Budget and Royalty visit BFI Screenonline:
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/584159/index.html

The very first holidays were those originated by the church. Christmas and Easter were always set aside, as were Sundays when anyone whose work allowed them to, had the day off. Bank holidays followed and these became general holidays. Those rare days off mean’t a great deal to people who worked long hours seven days a week, sometimes from dawn to dusk and had no annual holiday. There was no income other than that which they earned to support their families. 


When Sundays were recognised as a day of rest there were many restrictions and things they could not do. Unlike today when many families do their weekly shopping as well as other tasks such as the washing and ironing. There were strange rules they had to adhere to. For instance, women were able to knit and embroider on the Sabbath but not sew. Perhaps it was because sewing was part of their household duties. The average mum was obliged to spend a great deal of her time darning, patching and doing make and mend on their children’s and their own clothes.  

Consequently they did all they could to ensure Bank Holidays and any day they had off was organised to be one to remember and hopefully better than any they had the previous year. Everyone was keen to contribute and join in the celebrations. These were great times and often the only opportunity families had to all get together and really enjoy themselves. You can be sure they did! Such occasions might also have been one of the few chances young ladies had to meet potential suitors.

The jobs we do now are not nearly as backbreaking as those done by our forefathers and although we no longer have to work such long hours or every day of the week, the number of Bank Holidays has increased over recent years. These are in addition to the number of weeks annual leave built into the contract of employment we all get.

How nice it would be if everyone could get together and find the time to re-enact the old ways of having a good time. It would go some way to restoring the friendship and neighbourly companionship that was so important in days gone by when people of all Classes in the Community had to support each other. There was no one else for them to depend on. 

Come and help us to celebrate the nuptials of Prince William and his bride to be, Kate Middleton, here at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary on Bank Holiday Friday 29th April 2011.

In honour of the occasion, there will be special Royal Afternoon Cream Teas available and the fabulous Jenny's Ark will be visiting, with her enticing entourage. We will be hosting a best dressed Prince and Princess fancy dress competition, with fabulous prizes to be won. As always, you will have the opportunity to see at least two of our spectacular flying displays, where some of the world’s most striking birds of prey take to the skies in all their magnificent splendour.

We are open daily from 10.00am – 5.00pm. For more information call us on 08456 807897 or email us at info@owl-help.org.uk

Back by popular demand is Slow Food Aylsham's food and drink-themed Quiz Night. Once again, the venue will be Aylsham Town Hall and the date is Saturday 14th May.

The group's last quiz, held in 2009, was a sell-out and since then, many people have asked for a repeat. Quizmaster Roger Willis has scoured his reference books and music collection for another 100 family-friendly questions, all with a link - no matter how tenuous - with food or drink. "Mastermind-standard quizzes are fine," says Roger, "but I like to keep my questions a bit easier. Not that this quiz will be a walk in the park, but I like to think that everyone has a chance!"

In line with Slow Food Aylsham's philosophy of supporting local producers, prizes for the quiz winners will be sourced in the Farmers' Market. There will be free tea, coffee and nibbles and you are invited to take your own drinks too.

The quiz will be organised for tables of six people and tickets cost just £5 per person or £28 for a full table. Tickets are available from Salad Days fruit & veg stall in Aylsham Market Place, you can phone 07970 077 506 or email your request to roger.willis1@virgin.net

30% of Voluntary Sector Organisations in Suffolk said the impact of spending cuts would result in a reduced level of services and a reduction in members of staff.

35% felt there would be a challenge to the survival of their organisation.

A recent survey by The Suffolk Congress has revealed the impact of the funding cuts to the voluntary and community sector in Suffolk. The research reveals that:

· 50% of voluntary and community groups in Suffolk have an income of less than £10,000 per annum, revealing the extent of grassroots’ activity across the County

· 73% of the income generated by all voluntary and community groups is from the general public and 40% of these groups said that this was their primary source of income.

The research also revealed that 50% the voluntary and community sector groups expect their income to decrease.

“We are experiencing a significant increase in demand for grant support as income streams decline for many of our charities and they look towards grant funders for the shortfall”. Said Stephen Singleton, Suffolk Congress member and Chief Executive of The Suffolk Foundation, one of the County’s major voluntary sector funders.

Full results are available on www.thesuffolkcongress.org.uk, the new website for the Suffolk Congress

or contact the Congress Communications Group:

Halford Hewitt: halford@ihag.freeserve.co.uk
Stephen Singleton: stephen.singleton@suffolkfoundation.org.uk
Wendy Herber: wendy.herber@savo.co.uk
Hazel Pidsley: chiefofficer@volunteercentre.co.uk

Bungay Festival Days & Fun Days - an exhibition of photographs, programmes & memorabilia showing Bungay at play over the years has been organised by the Bungay Festival Committee to attract people looking for a Bank Holiday outing.

Whilst the exhibition to be held at The Staithe Riverside Centre on May 2nd 2011 between Noon and 3PM draws heavily on the Frank Honeywood collection (now in Bungay Museum) for the archive material going back to the 1920’s, there will also be images from the 2009 & 2010 Festivals, which have never been shown before, so one of the attractions for visitors is that they or an organisation or club may be in one or more of the photo’s.

Keith Parker, this years Festival Chairman said “in a weekend when many people will be celebrating the Royal Wedding, it is appropriate that Bungay should celebrate previous Festivals & other social events that the Town has organised over the last 85 years”.

Admission to the exhibition costs £5 (which includes bread, cheese & wine) and tickets can be obtained on the door. The event will act as a fundraiser for this year's Bungay Festival and is part of Waveney Revels Festival which aims to explore and celebrate the array of arts and heritage activities the area has to offer.

Now in its 6th spectacular year, the East Anglian Dragon Boat Festival is proving as popular as ever, as companies, organisations and clubs from across the region, sign up what they hope will be winning teams. This much celebrated annual event returns to Nicholas Everett Park, Oulton Broad in Lowestoft on Sunday 8th May – and the inter-company rivalry is already building, not least between the teams representing BBC Suffolk and BBC Radio Norfolk!

BBC Radio Norfolk will be entering a team for the first time into the event and assistant editor, Martyn Weston, comments; “BBC Radio Norfolk is thrilled to be involved with such a fun yet important event raising money for a very worthwhile cause. As well as covering the race on the radio, I'm delighted the radio station is putting in a team to compete. The sports team are leading our entry and have so far recruited one of our travel reporters, our web journalists and members of the BBC Radio Norfolk news team. They appear to be taking it very seriously and have already started training! We look forward to seeing just what the team can do against our rivals at BBC Suffolk and others from around Norfolk and Suffolk!”
Also swapping microphones for paddles and seeking to put one over on the competition this year will be the team from BBC Suffolk led by weekend breakfast show presenter, Rob Dunger. Rob is a multi-talented guy and is hoping to bring some of his many talents to bear in the dragon boat race. Fluent in English, French, Spanish and Dutch with a smattering of Greek and Turkish, Rob is a former florist, racconteur and according to his team mates an ‘all round lovely bloke’ although they are not sure he's much of a rower!

Rob is more at home in the gym than on the water but like everything will give it his best shot! Rob started his broadcasting career on BBC Radio Suffolk as a guest newspaper reviewer on Saturday mornings. He caught the radio bug and soon started helping on the phones at the weekend for a few hours, which turned into every Saturday morning and practically all day Sundays. It wasn't long before he began presenting his first programme, the Dawnshift and then working with breakfast presenter Mark Murphy as travel reporter. Rob has lived in Suffolk for more than 25 years and truly believes it is the finest county in the land.

Rob and the BBC Suffolk team are keen to improve on their 25th placing last year and had this to say about the event; “We had a great time last year even though we were awful sailors and came somewhere near to last! This year is going to be different as we have renamed our team BBC Radio Suffolk Seadogs and want to sink the chances of team BBC Radio Norfolk beating us!"
To be part of this fantastic event and join Rob and the radio crews on the water on 8th May, all you need to do is raise a team of up to 11 people (squads can be larger) and you’ll be ready to ‘race the dragon’! The dragon boats, qualified helms and racing equipment are provided, each team gets a minimum of three races and no previous experience is necessary, just plenty of team spirit and enthusiasm! All the teams will be seeking to knock ‘The Sugar Babes’ of British Sugar off their pedestals as reigning champions and challenging 2010 top fundraisers, Howes Percival, for the charity trophy and prize of a day’s use of the spa with lunch at the Marriott Sprowston Manor.

The Festival offers a full day of fun on land as well as water with plenty of activities on the bankside to entertain teams and spectators between races and Carol Lester, Director of Festival organisers, Gable Events, comments, “The Festival appeals to lots of different organisations as it is perfect for a company seeking to team build or raise their profile or for those simply wishing to try something completely different and enjoy a superb day out. The generosity of teams taking part in the dragon boat festival has raised more than £85,000 to date for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and we are looking forward to raising more money for EACH and seeing the radio stations battling it out for supremacy on the water this year!”

To make sure your company, club or group of friends is on the start line in May, call Gable Events on 01780 470 718 or visit www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/eastanglia.

Photographs courtesy of Satalight Photography

 

Southwold RFC win the Suffolk Plate

Southwold 19. Ipswich YM 11

Southwold RFC completed their season on a high after defeating perennial Suffolk Plate rivals in an absorbing and hard-fought war of attrition.

The first half was somewhat of a stalemate as both sides sought a way to break the oppositions defensive lines. However, Ipswich YM had the lions share of territory and possession. YM were a well drilled unit and managed to work the phases well. But it was inspiration from their quicksilver fullback that produced the YM try as he cut through the defence to score a good individual try. This was to be their only try as Southwold were determined to get something out of their season.

Great work from Gavin Starks led to a charge down near the YM line, this was pounced upon by the athletic Chunk Smith, to the approval of the home crowd. Better was to come, as a cumbersome move by the YM back line led to an interception by the lively Day Harvey, he cantered 50 metres to score, narrowly avoiding the attentions of the covering speedy prop- forward!

A half-time team talk from Ali Butler left Southwold in no doubt about the task in hand during the second half. He was proved correct, as Ipswich YM battered the Southwold lines only to stopped again and again by resolute and sometimes desperate defending. YM popped over a couple of penalties as Southwold were forced to infringe at the breakdowns, however as YM chased the win the pitch began to open up. Southwold then brought on fresh legs for the last quarter.
This produced an immediate impact as Southwold attacked with more menace. This culminated in a broken play attack leading to a run in for Josh Crick. This gave Southwold some clear water and they managed to keep their shape and discipline to see the game out.

Captain Harvey lifted the Suffolk Plate to the delight of a large and supportive crowd. A memorable way to round off the competitive season. Arn the Wold!

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